In a year in which the American public is demanding more female representation in the arts, voters in The Desert Sun's Tachevah Music Showcase overwhelming selected a female pop vocalist from Palm Desert to move one step closer to winning a $3,000 grand prize.

Kate London, who helped rapper Shawn Don win last year's Tachevah as a back-up singer despite not making it to the semi-finals as a solo artist, received 400-500 more votes than her next closest competitors in the initial video showcase. Her song, “Love Me Right,” received more than 900 votes on The Desert Sun website. Viewers had the opportunity to vote once a day for 45 videos approved submissions.

Ten of those artists entering videos will now move on to the live music segment of the four-month musical journey. The semi-final showcases are March 15 at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, north of Yucca Valley, and March 22 at the Date Shed in Indio. The venues each artist will play will be determined after each act has been notified of the results of the balloting. The week-long voting period ended at 5 p.m. Friday.

Two winners from each of those two heats will advance to the finals Saturday, May 5, at an Indio Block Party in downtown Indio. The City of Indio is sponsoring the 2018 Tachevah.

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G-Walk, Shawn Son and Kate London before performing at Pappy and Harriet's in Pioneertown Thursday, March 23, 2017 during the Tachevah Semifinals Showcase. (Photo: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun)

London, who says on her Facebook page she is now living in San Diego, was one of two female lead artists to be voted into the next level of competition. Giselle Woo, a popular Cathedral City artist who has appeared in past Tachevah showcases and the East Valley Voices production at the McCallum Theatre, also advanced to the semi-finals with her band The Night Owls on the basis of the video for her original Spanish-language song, “No Basta.”

The live showcases are all-age events with free admission. Each band or solo artist performs a 25-minute set before a panel of judges with music industry experience.

Past winners have gone on to play local venues from the Big Rock Pub and Palm Canyon Roadhouse to the McCallum Theatre and the Empire Polo Club, where many Tachevah alumni have performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.